Thread by @ZoeTillman

Hello again from Judge Carl Nichols' virtual courtroom, where sentencing is about to start for Capitol rioter David Mish. Mish pleaded guilty to the parading misdemeanor and is asking for 2 days incarceration. Govt wants 30 days in jail.
s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2105…

Mish had contacted MPD the day after the Capitol riot to say he had information about Ashli Babbitt's death, and admitted being inside the building

AUSA explains one reason they're asking for jail time for Mish is his previous criminal history record - in the sentencing memo they acknowledge it's mostly low-level offenses and from his youth, but say it shows "lack of respect for the law"

AUSA says Mish is on the less serious end of the spectrum in terms of actions on Jan. 6 and should get some credit for admitting he was there and cooperating with law enforcement, but she began with a point govt has consistently made — that all participants made the riot possible

Nichols says he's concerned that if he orders 30 days incarceration, there's no supervised release or any other connection between Mish and the criminal justice system re: this case once he's done. He wonders if probation wouldn't serve as a more specific deterrent for Mish

AUSA says govt has been wary of asking for incarceration + probation because it's not clear in the case law if you can do that for these misdemeanors. She says the govt has decided it will make those requests going forward, but not for Mish since they hadn't decided that in time

This question of whether judges can order this kind of "split sentence" for a class B misdemeanor has come up before in Jan. 6 cases -->

https://twitter.com/ZoeTillman/status/1454114704364871685

Mish's lawyer argues he should get credit for contacting police within 24 hours of getting home from DC, and although he didn't call for the purpose of turning himself in (he said he'd called re: Ashli Babbitt), he understood there might be consequences

Mish's lawyer Maria Jacob says he didn't go to DC planning to go the Capitol, said he only decided to go after Trump spoke — she argues that there's power in feeling you have the support of the commander in chief + influence of the crowd

Jacob says Mish has lost job assignments, denied a mortgage, been "judged harshly" but his community, and that's been a form of specific deterrence

Nichols says Jacob raised good arguments for probation or at least in that direction, and questions why their request of 2 days incarceration is appropriate. Jacob says long-term supervision has affected his ability to work and maintain hours on the job

Nichols asks the probation officer if he can impose incarceration + supervised release or probation in this kind of case. Officer says supervised release not available by statute for this offense, and they don't think incarceration followed by probation is an option either

Mish declines to address the court. Nichols is taking a short recess to consider things and then will come back to announce the sentence

Judge Nichols is back on to announce the sentence for David Mish

Nichols notes that there are actually three different incarceration options proposed to him — 2 days (Mish), 30 days (govt), 45 days (probation office)

Nichols says there's no evidence Mish came to DC intending to go to the Capitol, no evidence he was violent or committed property destruction, no evidence he broke in through violent means — but it should have been "obvious" he was in the middle of a "violent riot"

Judge is going over Mish's personal background, notes the lengthy criminal record that suggests disrespect or at least serious indifference for the law, but also a number of difficulties starting from when he was a teenager

Nichols says he doesn't believe Mish is likely to participate in something like Jan. 6 again and that the circumstances that made the riot possible are unlikely to reoccur, but says general deterrence is also important

Now: Capitol rioter David Mish sentenced to 30 days incarceration, going with the govt's rec. Nichols said he was "very torn" because he thought longer-term contact with the court system could be good for Mish, but as of now didn't believe he could do jail + probation (see above)